Employed Workers with Disabilities: Video Interviews and Survey Findings

Given the low percentage of people with mobility impairments and limitations (PWMIL) who work, discovering how PWMIL solve problems at work will give direction to improving the employment rate for PWMIL. Successful workers with disabilities have rarely been studied. This innovative research used two methods to collect data from PWMIL workers. A survey of PWMIL was completed by 99 individuals. Of these, 32 were videotaped at their work sites. The interviews were transcribe and coded for topics by relevance to acquisition of work, devices used, personal assistance used, work concerns, co-worker work relationships and . The survey demographic showed that the average number of years worked was 25 and that 37% earned more than $55,000 per year. The data from the survey and transcripts of the videotaped interviews both show that the primary factors contributing to the successful employment of PWMIL include assistive technology; personal assistance; physical accessibility of the general work building and of the work area; the attitudes of employers and coworkers; and flexible workplace policies. These finding highlight the types of support needed for PWMIL to succeed at work. Providing these supports to PWMIL, VR counselors, health care professional and employers will provide relevant information on what is needed for job success. Showing the video clips of PWMIL at work and what work conditions are needed for success will promote increased interest in hiring PWMIL and give PWMIL examples of jobs they might want to consider doing.